Red Sox cards from Nate and Shane

I've got a bunch of trade and care packages heading my way this weekend, so I wanted to catch up on a couple that arrived around the holidays. Nate, author of the blog The Bucs Stop Here reached out about a possible trade for some Blue Jackets cards. I only had one CBJ card he wanted, but we were still able to work out a baseball-centric swap.

Nate sent a nice stack of Red Sox my way, highlighted by this Will Middlebrooks black refractor from 2013. It's numbered to 100 and Nate specifically mentioned how much he liked this card, so I definitely appreciate him parting with it.

More Chromes, including a Rafael Devers refractor and an Andrew Benintendi RC. In my Kris Bryant post I mentioned last year's list of top-ten 3rd basemen. You can expect Raffy Big Stick to surge to the top-three in the next year or two.

The rest of Nate's offering included a pair of Pedroia and two Mookie Betts Bowman singles. This is just a reminder that Mookie is still on the team, Xander Bogaerts is signed long-term, J.D. Martinez opted in, and Devers is 22 and only getting better. Boston ain't rebuilding just yet.

Nate, thanks for the great cards! I hope we can trade again sometime.

My Red Sox collection got another big boost, thanks to Shoebox Legend and longtime trade partner Shane. I sent Shane a PWE and he hit me back with a stuffed mailer full of spare Sox.

Well, they weren't all Red Sox cards. The Jordy Nelson is a preview of my Packers playoff post coming this weekend. The Nick Johnson Norwich Navigators card fills a hole in my Connecticut Collection, and the Brian Leetch refractor comes from one of my favorite sets, 1995-96 Finest. He's got CT ties as well. Shane also threw in a Frank Gore from 2013 Topps Archives (featuring the 1986 design of course) and some Pete Rose Living Legend Leaf.

Some oddballs and HOFers here, I have precious few Red Sox from 1984 and 1985, so the Donruss Boggs was a welcome sight. The Jim Rice O-Pee-Chee foil sticker was sharp when Shane sent it, but it slipped out of my hand and I dinged the bottom right corner. D'oh!

1990's stuff. Lots of 1992 Pinnacle here. I'm shocked I didn't have a 1990 Topps Jim Rice already. Shane must have checked my need list, because there was only one dupe in the whole stack (and I think it arrived in a recent trade.)

That would be the Ted Williams Baseball Heroes card. The Ted Williams Ted Williams is new to me, as is every other card you see here. I just felt like writing Ted Williams Ted Williams, lol.

Bunch of Bowman, including Betts, Bogaerts, and Devers. Mike Napoli and Shane Victorino were two key contributors to the Sox' 2013 World Series squad. That was a fun team.

 A & G, Gypsy Queen, and Cracker Jack. I shall dub this group 'Old Timey Cards'.

Slightly more modern designs here, recreating 1964, 1965, and 1967 Topps. I like the George Scott All-Time Fan Favorites card a lot, even though I've always found the 1967 set to be unremarkable. Someone once questioned how I could possibly dislike this design. I dunno dude, what do you like about it - the player name at the top, or the team name at the bottom? Cause that's all there is.

Here's a group of Upper Deck including a very cool Fred Lynn from Past Time Pennants and a Josh Beckett Highlights card picturing the playoff hero receiving the 2007 ALCS MVP award.

This post started with Chrome, so let's end it with Chrome. The Xander RC is obviously the highlight but I should also acknowledge my first card of Jose Vaquedano. I love receiving obscure Sox. Shane, thanks for another great batch of BoSox!





Thanks for reading!



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